Tales From The Grand Line
by Chocolate-n-Vanilla
Summary: Before Loguetown, the Straw Hats docked at the small island of Hiyokuna, currently at the mercy of bandits. They come to the town's aid with the help of two women who have their own reasons for going to the Grand Line. The group of seven go on many adventures, fight countless battles, gain new friends, and face new foes on their way to the One Piece. Eventual Sanji / OC Zoro / OC


"Are we there yet?"

Nami sighed, "Give it another minute,"

"Before we get there?"

"Before I kill you for asking me that one more time!" Nami exploded in Luffy's face.

He fell back and groaned, "But I want to go to the Hika-yuni place," he whined,

"It's called Hiyokuna, numbskull, and we're only going there to replenish supplies, rest for the night, and _that's it_," she told him firmly.

Luffy nodded in understanding, "and we'll go exploring, right?"

Nami rubbed her head, getting annoyed being trapped on board with Luffy's constant badgering, "Usopp, see anywhere to dock?" she called up desperately,

"Yeah!" he shouted back from the crow's nest, "I can see a perfect place to dock the ship with little chance of anyone seeing it,"

Nami gave him a thumbs up and began ordering the rest of the Straw Hat crew to help move the ship.

* * *

_Hiyokuna Island!_

_The Enchanting Storyteller!_

* * *

As they stepped onto land, Luffy jumped up and down excitedly, "Oh man, this is going to be fun!"

"Calm down, we're only here for food and water, then we're out of here," Zoro stated fixedly,

"Yeah yeah," he responded, obviously not paying attention, "Hey, let's go this way!" he declared, running ahead,

"Idiot, wait up!" Nami screamed, following after him, "Well, don't just stand there, come on guys!"

Sanji's eye became a heart as he happily chased after their navigator, "Coming, Nami-swan!"

Zoro rolled his eyes, "Whatever," he muttered before chasing after them,

"Hey, wait for me!" Usopp shouted, running after the rest of his crewmates. When he managed to catch up to them, they'd all started walking. As the group of pirates stepped down the cobblestone road, they found themselves drawn towards a large crowd standing in a semi-circle facing a wall of one of the buildings, "What do you think's going on?" Usopp asked.

Luffy shrugged, "I don't know, but I want to find out!" With that, he sprinted ahead and squeezed through the crowd of people. When he got to the front he saw a young woman in the center.

She was tall, and was projecting loud enough for the whole crowd to hear, "And then Nero," she took her brown hair up into a bun and held her hand out as if she were holding a sword, "touched the cold steel of his blade to the neck of his opponent and said 'You don't deserve the dignity that comes with dying at the hands of an honest fighter,' and with that he," she brought her arm behind 'the opponent's' neck and brought it down, "knocked him out," the crowd applauded in amusement and several small children giggled and jumped in glee. Luffy, entranced by the story, sat down in his spot directly in the front of the crowd and rested his head in his hands, "then, Nero steps _over_ the unconscious body and looks straight into the eyes of the King of the Bandits," the woman quickly leaned over, towards another woman who was sitting, unnoticed, on a crate against the wall. The woman on the crate absent-mindedly handed the storyteller a black bandana, which the storyteller tied around her head before going back to the center of the circle, "The King looked down upon Nero, who he saw a no threat, and leap off his chair, drawing out his own sword," the kids began booing and the woman on the crate smiled. She was scribbling feverishly in a leather bound notebook, looking up at her friend every once and a while.

As the woman continued her story, the rest of the Straw Hat crew had managed to push themselves through the, now very annoyed, crowd. Nami punched Luffy in the head, "Why the hell did you run off like that?!"

Luffy, and several other observers, pushed a finger to their lips and shushed her. The pirates looked to the girl performing and Sanji's eyes instantly became hearts, "She must be a goddess of theatre brought down from the heavens!"

Zoro scoffed, "Calm down, curly brow,"

"What was that moss head?"

The crowd once again hushed the group as the woman wrapped up her play, "and with one final blow, the King of the Bandits lay defeated, and Nero stood victorious, the hero of the village," the children in the crowd cheered and many of them raced up to the storyteller, hugging around her legs, while the some of the adults came forward and dropped a few berries into a hat placed near the hidden girl on the crate.

Slowly, the crowd slowly trickled away as the villagers went back to their previous duties. The storyteller playfully tousled the hair of the last child that had finally let go of her legs, "See ya later," she said with a grin. The boy nodded vigorously and ran over to the woman on the crate, placing a beri in the hat. The woman on the crate gave him a smile and quick hug before going back to her writing. The storyteller walked over to her friend, "You can come out now, there are hardly any people here,"

"Shut up," was the immediate reply. She looked up from her writing and spotted Luffy, still sitting cross legged on the ground with a smile on his face, "also, there's still a few people here,"

The storyteller turned around and noticed the group. She walked over with a large smile on her face, "Hey, you must be new here, because we fucking know _everyone_ in this town!"

Sanji came over and knelt on one knee, a rose in his hand, "Lady Theatre has grabbed my heart and she shall never let go!" She stared down at him with a deadpanned expression and shook her head with rejection. Nami grabbed Sanji's collar and lifted him up.

Nami smiled politely at the woman, "Sorry about him, I'm Nami,"

She returned the smile, "I'm Kaelyn," she gestured her thumb behind her to her friend, "and the shrimp over here-"

"Is her friend who, surprisingly, can introduce herself," she cut off. She stood up, clutching the notebook to her chest and walking to them. Standing beside her friend, she was at least five inches shorter. She looked up at Nami, "I'm Mayra,"

Before anything else could happen, Sanji, free of Nami's grasp, got on his knees in front of her, "You, my dear, are a true illustration of the world's beauty! I'm honored to bask in your radiance!" She looked down at him, confused, and guilelessly took the rose he had in his hand.

Kaelyn shook her head again, and Nami once again struck his head, "Sorry about him, Sanji's… well Sanji,"

"Such a lovely compliment," he gushed, turning back to Nami. Mayra raised an eyebrow and let the rose fall on the ground.

Nami, ignoring Sanji, continued to introduce them all, "That's Zoro, with the green hair," the man gave her an unimpressed look at his introduction, "Usopp, with the long-"

"Eh- _Captain_ Usopp!" He clarified,

Mayra looked him over skeptically, "Captain? So you have a ship?"

Usopp nodded, "I've been on quite a few adventures myself before I met up with these guys,"

The smaller woman's eyes widened, "Really? W-Would you mind sharing some of them?"

Usopp blinked a few times, not used to anyone wanting to hear his stories, expect for his old friend back home, "Uh, sure… I mean, of course I wouldn't mind! I get this a lot," he declared, resting his hands proudly on his hips as Sanji glared from his spot.

Nami took charge once again and hit their marksman as she pointed to their captain, still sitting on the ground in awe, "And that's Luffy,"

Luffy stood up and walked over to Kaelyn. To her surprise, instead of introducing himself, he grabbed onto her arms, "Tell another story!"

"Ok!" She responded with equal enthusiasm,

"No," they turned around and saw Mayra, giving a stern look to her friend.

"But why not?" they both whined.

Mayra, pushing away the frightening similarities between them, grabbed her friend's ear, "Because you know we have _things_ to do, so let's. Get. Going!"

As her friend tugged her along, Kaelyn waved back at the group, "Bye! See you tomorrow!"

"Idiot, how do you know they'll be here tomorrow?!" Was the last they heard before the two disappeared around the corner.

Zoro stared off to where they left, "Well that was a bit odd,"

"Not the worst we've seen," Usopp pointed out,

"No, but it was still odd,"

Luffy started walking in the direction the two left, "Let's go find them,"

"What? Why? We have no idea where we are, where they were going, and by the looks of this place, this isn't exactly the nicest neighbourhood," Usopp reasoned, looking at the buildings around them. It was true, the buildings were clearly not well maintained; many windows and doors that weren't left uncovered were boarded up, shingles and bricks were missing, and paint was chipped off.

Luffy shrugged, "Who are we to judge?" With that, he continued walking forward. Everyone looked at each other; some with annoyance, some with exhaustion, some with confusion, but one by one they began to follow their captain around the corner. Luffy looked around the empty street and groaned, "Aw, come on! Where'd she go?! I want to hear another story!" Nami rushed over and put a hand around his mouth. When Luffy became silent, they heard faint voices nearby,

"…so we can add them to the list of safe houses,"

They walked a bit further; behind another building were Kaelyn and Mayra. Mayra was holding a map out with certain areas coloured in green. She turned to Kaelyn and said, "Yeah, we just need to swing by the inn and that'll be our sweep for the night,"

"Ok… can I just see the map for a second?"

As Kaelyn reached for the map, Mayra pulled it closer and gave a weak chuckle, "Heh… actually I'd prefer if you didn't,"

"I promise I won't kill the paper this time!"

Luffy took Nami's hand off his mouth and ran towards the two, "Hey Kaelyn! Tell me another story!" Kaelyn smiled and laughed as he, and the rest of the Straw Hats, came over to them. Mayra sighed and folded the map, placing it in her back pocket of her striped shorts. As she watched her friend chat happily with the man in the straw hat, she couldn't help but wonder what was rubbing her the wrong way about these travellers. Their town hasn't seen any since the attacks started,

"Look, she'd love to stay and tell you another story, because that would involve talking which is something she can't stop doing, but we have other things to do," Mayra pressed, hoping her friend would get the point and get them out of this situation so they can go to the inn as planned.

Zoro was also suspicious about these two women; why did they have a map with certain places marked? And why was this town in shambles? "You have to go to the inn," Mayra looked at the swordsman in shock, then realized they must have listened in on her conversation before. Her expression turned sour, "It just so happens we need a place to stay for the night, and having two locals show us the way would be helpful,"

The rest of them watched as Zoro and Mayra had a small staring contest, waiting for one to look away in defeat. Kaelyn walked up to her friend and put a hand on her shoulder, "We should show them the way," Mayra opened her mouth to protest, "hey! Normally, _you'd_ be the one who wants to do whatever is the most 'logical' and 'rational' thing. We're going to the inn, they need to get to the inn, _**therefor**_-"

"Fine," Mayra said through clenched teeth as she squeezed her eyes, "just shut up,"

Luffy came up to Kaelyn and gave her a high-five, "Yay!" Mayra watched her friend walked ahead with Luffy as they began talking loudly and excitedly. She shook her head and gave the rest of the group a quick glance before following, scribbling in her notebook as she did so.

Usopp walked with Sanji, Zoro, and Nami behind the two strange girls and their captain. The marksman watched Mayra scribbling away in her book and Kaelyn chatting away with Luffy, "Is it just me, or is there something weird going on in this town?"

Zoro nodded, "Something weird alright, and I don't know how, but those two are involved in it somehow,"

"You're just pissed because the ladies don't want to be near you," Sanji said, defending the two girls,

"What the hell's that supposed to mean? I don't see them around you either!"

Nami smacked both their heads, "Shut up, you two!"

"You're pirates? That's so cool!" Kaelyn exclaimed as she talked with Luffy.

He nodded and gave a giant smile, "Yep! We're on our way to the Grand Line and I'm going to be King of the Pirates!"

Kaelyn looked behind her quickly at her friend, still scribbling in her notebook, "Umm, don't mention that to Mayra…"

"Why?"

"Well, let's just say she's sensitive about these sorts of things…"

He tilted his head, "What kind of things?"

"Just don't mention it,"

"Ok… hey, how would you like to join my crew?"

Kaelyn's mind wandered away as Luffy continued talking. She could tell these were good people, and they would be able to help them, but if Mayra found out they were pirates, she may not be so trusting.

As Mayra was writing furiously, she walked straight into Kaelyn's back. Her pen scratched across the page, ink smearing over her work, "What the hell was-" she look up to yell at her friend, when she saw why she had stopped. The inn up ahead had been ransacked.

They stepped over the door that had been torn off its hinges and saw the entire lobby wrecked. The owner, a short, stout man with a thick moustache, ran up to the two girls, "Mayra, Kaelyn, thank goodness you came!"

Kaelyn looked around, "Holy shit, this is the worst we've seen so far,"

"What did they take?" Mayra questioned with solemnity.

His wife, a heavier woman with a usually warm face, came down the stairs with her son with a scared expression, "What's going to happen?"

Mayra placed a hand on the older woman's shoulder, looking down at her child, "Please, try to keep a calm head-"

"Don't lecture me," she commanded, looking down as she stroked her crying son's hair, "I want to know what is going happen? If you two are actually going to be able to stop them,"

"Mom! Don't!" The child protested,

"When will I be able to feel safe in my own home? When will I be able to look at my neighbours with the same kind of trust I had for many years before?" Mayra looked away from the woman, unable to provide an answer,

"Mommy!" The child broke free from his mother's grasp. He squeezed his hands into small fists and shouted up to his mother, "Don't say that! I know they're going to help us! No stupid bandits are a match for them! If we lose our faith in them, then we've really been robbed of everything!" The child's eyes welled up, tears streaming down his face. Kaelyn came over to the child, the same happy boy who had watched her performance and clung to her legs afterwards that very day, and enveloped him in a hug.

Luffy stared at the scene, a serious expression on his face, "Who did this?" The two girls looked at each other, but said nothing, "Who!?"

"Bandits-"

"Kaelyn!" Mayra shouted, angry and shocked,

"-have been robbing this town blind for months now,"

"Well, there's got to be more to it than that," Nami urged gently.

Kaelyn opened her mouth to answer, when the innkeeper asked for her help repairing around the inn, "I don't mean to force work upon you; the other guests are helping to repair their own rooms but I don't know if it's enough to-"

She shook her head, "No, it's fine," she began to walk away with him. She turned back to her friend. Mayra glared at her, unimpressed she told them of their situation, and Kaelyn merely rolled her eyes, "Just tell them,"

Left alone with the group, Mayra faced them, "Well, since you already know about the bandits, I guess you should know the rest of the story," she looked directly at Luffy, "I don't know why you're so interested in our affairs," she caught Zoro's annoyed look, "but I'll tell you none the less,"

"I have a question!" Luffy shouted. Mayra looked at him, confused, but nodded for him to continue, "why are there people in this inn? Cause I don't think tourists would want to come here…"

Mayra looked at the ground, "The people who stay here are the one whose homes were robbed and destroyed in the process," she looked past the group, out the window to the sad sight of the street, "Kaelyn and I have been travelling from town to town for years now. We came to this place four months ago; we weren't planning on staying for more than two days, when we were robbed of our earnings. We went around town aiming to find the person who stole from us, only to find many other townsfolk doing the same," she walked to a wall and used it to lean on, "obviously most, if not all, of the villagers thought we were the culprits. They formed a mob and chased us to the town center. They began closing in on us, when a villager stepped in. He had been robbed between the time he stepped out of his house to check the commotion and the time he ran to his house for a weapon as the mob began chasing us.

"From that day, we just planned on staying however long it would take for us to re-earn our money, but as weeks passed, we watched the village sink deeper into poverty. These bandits were more advanced than any we had encountered on our previous travels, able to rob a home in clear day while the owner simply went next door to borrow some sugar. We then decided to stay; to stay as long as it took to give back what was stolen from these people, exact vengeance on the bastards that did this, and to restore this town to its former glory,"

The room was silent, save for the repairs coming from upstairs, until Luffy spoke, "We'll help,"

Mayra looked up at the group with wide eyes. The expressions on all of them were unanimous. She pushed herself off the wall, "Umm, are you insane?"

"No…" he answered confused,

"You- you can't just come into a random town, and help it!"

"But that's what you did," he pointed out.

Mayra's head was throbbing in annoyance, "Yes, but _**we**_ were wronged! They didn't do anything to you!"

He shrugged, "They're hurting innocent people, that's a good enough reason for me,"

Mayra's mouth was agape; who were these people?

* * *

_Mayra: We just need to go around town and check houses_

_Sanji: You shouldn't harass these ladies, old man_

_Usopp: Like you're one to talk..._

_Kaelyn: Oh great, I don't want to talk to **him**..._

_Zoro: Can someone get this cat off my head?_

_Nami: Luffy, you caught one of the bandits!_

_Luffy: Oh wow, I didn't mean to..._

_On the next One Piece_

_Interviewing the Island!_

_Luffy Catches a Bandit!_

_I'm going to be King of Pirates!_


End file.
